November 13, 2025 • 38 mins
Monongalia County Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell on the drop in enrollment.
Attorney General J.B. McCusky on advising the Trump Administration not to attend the COP 30 Climate Summit, and the upcoming case defending the Save Women's Sports Act in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Attorney General J.B. McCusky on advising the Trump Administration not to attend the COP 30 Climate Summit, and the upcoming case defending the Save Women's Sports Act in front of the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Also m Tech in the first Ward area of Morgantown.
Just minutes ago, Sheriff Todd Forbes and Montaguelia County Centers
a press release about a head on collision that occurred
on Wednesday afternoon, just after five pm on the Grafton
Road just south of the Sheets There. A northbound car
(00:22):
drifted across the lanes there and caused a crash that
injured three people. All three transported with unspecified injuries, and
that crash remains under investigation, and the sheriff is asking
anyone who may have witnessed that crash or seen something
to give them a call at three zero four two
(00:43):
nine seven to six zero. That phone number again is
seven to four zero two nine one seven two six zero. Well,
welcome to Talk of the Town and good Thursday morning.
I'm Mike Nolton. You'll find me out on X says
your news guy, Hope to bump into you there. Also
(01:05):
producing the program today, We've got Ethan Collins. You'll be
able to get Ethan eight hundred seven six five eight
two five five. And of course the text line is
open and active. It's available that number three oh four
talk three four on the program today spend a few
minutes with Attorney General JB. Mccusky coming up next. Then
(01:28):
at nine thirty, we're going to talk with mont County
school Superintendent Patrick Morrissey. And I'm sorry mont County Superintendent
Eddie Campbell. I'm doing two things at once here and
I think I just need to cut down to one.
How about that. We're going to have Superintendent mont County
Schools Eddie Campbell with us and we're going to talk
to Eddie about the enrollment numbers that were released on Wednesday.
(01:54):
It looks like mont County will lose about one hundred students.
I didn't think that sounded like too big a deal,
but I think Eddie's going to set me straight. We're
going to talk with Eddie at nine thirty about that.
That is the program. Let's hit just a couple of headlines.
Fire on Wednesday evening damaged several units at the Marjorie
(02:16):
Gardens apartments. About a dozen people are have been displaced
due to that. Brookhaven volunteer fire fighters responded along with
firefighters from Morgantown. The State Fire Marshall is investigating the
cause of that fire, and in Clarksburg City Council, there
has voted to begin an internal investigation into allegations against
(02:40):
city Manager Tiffany Fell.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
The vote to higher legal council to conduct that probe
came after a four hour long executive session last night.
I've got to call into Clarksburg Meyrit Jim Malford, Joe
to find out what he can tell us, if there's
anything at all that he can tell. So we'll keep
you posted there now, Clarksburg firefighters, in addition to allegations
(03:06):
of impropriety, they have taken a no confidence vote against
city Manager Fell. And then additionally you've had the Director
of Community Development file an ethics complaint against city Manager Fell.
That is really just filled with just about everything except
(03:26):
maybe the kitchen sink, everything from using city resources for
personal purposes to even having people that worked inside the
city prepare lesson plans for her. Evidently she was a
professor in some capacity at Salem University, and that relationship
(03:49):
also being called into question as possibly she may have
made some promises in order to get that professorship. But
will we'll stay on that. Hopefully we'll be able to
provide some details coming up. When we come back. We'll
spend a few minutes with Attorney General JB. Mccusky. It's
(04:09):
been a while since we've been able to talk to JB.
We'll go around the horn with JB coming up next
on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one
oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
Talk of the Town.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
A good Wednesday morning. It is nine sixteen in the
University City Fair Skies and forty two degrees Metro News
Zaki Weather says some sunshine today and a high temperature
of fifty one degrees and breaking news here at the
top of the hour of the Governor has released a
(05:09):
statement regarding the search for the missing minor in Nicholas County.
I'll go through this with you. This release came out
at nine oh six as we came on the air.
The Governor says that at six am this morning, the
water levels inside the Rolling thunder mine and Nicholas County
had reached sufficiently low levels for rescue crews to safely enter.
(05:35):
The team began their search, examining every section as they
advanced underground. Then at seven thirty seven eight m today,
one two man team located the body of missing minor
Foreman Steve Lipskom crews had worked tirelessly around the clock
in twelve hour shifts and a search for their colleague.
(05:56):
Each shift included roughly fifteen workers underground, eight on the
surf was coordinating the loading supplies, and another eight staging
and fusing a new water line. Their commitment and professionalism
have been unwavering throughout the operation. Had an opportunity to
speak with Josh Brady. He's the executive director of the
(06:18):
Mind Safety Training Unit here at West Virginia University. And
you know, Josh assured me that the people that were
working in that particular area were certainly well qualified, very
good people. And I'm sure that hearts are heavy in
Nicholas County and all fifty five counties for that matter,
(06:42):
as we mourn the loss of the Nicholas County minor.
He was found this morning seven thirty seven am in
the Rolling thundermine in Nicholas County Foreman Steve Lipscomb, So
our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the family.
Our text line to day is three four talk, three
(07:03):
four and early dismissal for the students over at South
Middle School and at m Tech. Today there's water issue
in the first ward, so those students will be heading
home early today. And also received word from Sheriff Todd
Forbes early this morning about a head on crash just
(07:29):
after five pm on the Grafton Road just south of
the Sheets. There three people hurt in that crash. Now,
looking at the press release, that crash happened just after
five o'clock in the afternoon and it involved let's see,
I've got those details. Three people transported with unspecified injuries
(07:53):
in that particular crash that happened that it was Mecha
nine one one received that report at five oh one.
Mont County Sheriff's Department is investigating that crash and they
would like anyone who may have witnessed that seen something,
may have some information to give them a call. That
(08:16):
number is three zero four two nine one seven to
two six zero. And the folks injured in that crash
where Christine and Harry Travis of Grafton and Brandy Taylor.
No ages have been provided, and we don't know where
Brandy Taylor is from, but nevertheless, three people injured in
(08:40):
that crash. Coming up on Monday, actually next week is
going to be a very busy week because on Monday
there is a PEIA hearing they'll be coming to Morgantown
to talk about the proposed three percent increase for the
plan holders of Associated public Employees. Then coming up on Tuesday,
(09:02):
there'll be a green Bag Road meeting that'll be held
over at the Mountain View Elementary School just off of
Lucky Lane there, green Bag Road, Lucky Lane that area. Now,
it looks like they're moving in some excavators, and I
guess from what I've understood, there are some people that
might not be completely up to speed with what's happening here.
(09:26):
But if you let's just start down there at the
bottom of the hill at MTech Drive Mississippi Street and
green Bag Road right in there where the city is
they're working on their new garage project. Okay, Now go
out in front of that garage if you're facing green
Bag Road and take it right and you'll see where
(09:49):
they're doing some drainage work. Well, that drainage work that
will be aroundabout ultimately they're green Bag Road in MTech Drive. Now,
if you notice you go over there on the mob side,
that drops off drastically, So it looks to me like
they'll have to move the road and the roundabout over
(10:09):
slightly in order to prevent, you know, a huge fill situation. Now,
talking to some of the residents in that area, that's
a wetland, and they have some serious concerns about what
they're doing because they're basically going to have to do
what they did at the airport. Seem to work at
(10:30):
the airport, and what they did there was they had
to encase a stream. Of course, that was a huge
phase of the entire project. But I digress. There will
be a roundabout there that MTech drive green Bag Road
Mississippi Street there at the bottom of the hill. Okay, Now,
come around the curve past the Federal Correction facility and
(10:57):
you go by the there was the hate farm right there.
There will be another roundabout there. The meeting that's coming
up on Tuesday night, they'll be focusing on green Bag
Road improvements over onto Route seven. So that'll be the
next phase of the green Bag Road project. And then
(11:17):
part of that project, at least some of the early
renditions or some of the early talk of that project,
they were going to try to tie that project into
the rail trail down in that area. So that'll be
quite an extensive, a multi modal project, if you will.
They'll be dealing with both foot traffic, bicycle traffic, and
(11:42):
then of course v Hickel traffic as well. Now the
Attorney General's office, they will be going before the United
States Supreme Court this fall in the case against I
don't think that's the right way to put it, but
in the case to defend the sports here in the
(12:05):
state of West Virginia. Now, Becky Pepper Jackson has filed
an initial brief with the courts prior to her appearance,
and that brief says that there is zero evidence that
there are any transgendered athletes that are taking opportunities away
(12:26):
from women in this state currently and in the past.
There are no examples of that whatsoever. The brief then
also goes on to say that she has been on
drugs to squelch her hormones to prevent her from prevent
(12:51):
her from becoming a male now in the process of this.
In the brief, it says that because of these factors,
she should be allowed to compete as the gender that
she would like to compete as, which would be a
(13:12):
track and field on the girls team. Now, the Attorney
General they have been working on their end of that brief,
and that case will be argued coming up in the fall.
It would appear that that case could go before the court.
Let's see, I think it was October, sometime in the
(13:35):
middle to late October time frame, in the city of
Morgantown on Wednesday, there were more than six hundred professionals
from the cybersecurity and national defense disciplines. They were down
on the waterfront for the Mountain State Cyber Summit. That
of course, there's a new partnership between West Virginia University
(13:59):
and Marshall University in order to develop the Institute for
Cybersecurity that will be located in Huntington. That's about a
forty three million dollar project where they will have labs
in which they'll be able to mimic what they call
a skiff that they have in Washington, d C. And
(14:20):
they'll be able to do realistic training because, as Bill
Walker told us, the executive director of National Security and
cyber Space Programs at West Virginia University, that you know,
we've always had these problems with bad actors hacking into systems,
stealing data, holding data ransom, and then getting using Bitcoin
(14:48):
as an untraceable means in order to complete their crime. Well,
now the bad actors also have the benefit of artificial intelligence.
We heard Director Walker tell us on Wednesday that artificial
intelligence is creating new opportunities for the bad guys that
(15:09):
certainly allow them to get at our strategic systems. And
I think it's important to note that Aliquippa al Equippa, Pennsylvania,
that water system they were hacked, they had some problems,
and there have been other hospital systems and school systems
throughout the country that have been hacked and have had
(15:32):
to deal with ransoms of that nature. And Director Walker
tells us that these attacks are going to do nothing
but increase and possibly even become more effective. And he
had members of the FBI Judicial Criminal Criminal Judicial Service
(15:57):
Information Group. They are based out of Fairmont. That is
the largest division of the FBI. More than three hundred
employees in that division they attended, as well as the
professionals across the board. And what's really fascinating about that
(16:17):
is when you look at an exercise like locked Shields.
Bill and I talked about that on Wednesday, five years ago,
was the first one that they had and they did
it down at the Coliseum, and it was a mix
of students, It was a mix of folks from the
National Guard, folks also from the Cyber Command in Washington,
(16:42):
d C. They participated virtually, but this is a NATO
exercise that involves countries from all over the world, and
they're able to work with the students all the way
up to the most seasoned military commanders. And as Bill
told us on Wednesday, that's exactly the pipeline and the
(17:05):
way that these cyber warriors as he calls them, are developed.
Because as we move into the future, we certainly see
how potent some of these cyber attacks can be. And
also not only are they potent, but there also can
be very difficult to trace, depending on exactly how they
(17:29):
are waged, and I think AI plays a role in that. Well,
coming up next, we're going to talk with Mont County
School Superintendent Eddie Campbell. He's getting out of a principles
meeting this morning. We're going to talk about their enrollment
figures the district down just about one hundred students.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Now join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven
sixty five eight two fivey five. This is the talk
(18:07):
of the town.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Well, good, Wednesday morning. It is at nine thirty five,
few clouds and forty two degrees in the University City.
Some enrollment numbers released by the State Board of Educations
show a continued decline in enrollment in schools across the state.
On the phone, we've got Mont County Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell.
Good morning, Eddie. How are you.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
I'm doing well. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Mike, Hey, I'm doing good. Thank you very much, Eddie. Now,
you know, before we get started on mont County, I think,
you know, would like to point out that Mont County
is really in the best shape of any of the
surrounding counties. Now, the raw data shows about eighty nine
students lost. I think we were talking about one hundred
(18:56):
lost here in mont County. But in Harrison County they
had a decrease of four hundred and twenty nine students.
Marion just about two hundred. Preston County they were another
two hundred. Didn't really take the time to look at Wetzel,
but Wetzel's down another one hundred and sixty one. Tell
(19:17):
us about the situation here in Montegelly County, Eddie.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, Mike, absolutely, And maybe before I jump into that.
I just want to mention that those of us here
in Montaguel County are thoughts and prayers go out to
the minor Lipscomb in Nicholas County and the loss of
his life. You know, when you think about the day
to day trials and tribulations that we all go through
(19:42):
and the roles that we play at all pales in
comparison to what that family's going through. So our thoughts
and prayers out to that family.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
So thank you for doing.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Oh, you're you're very welcome, you know here in mont County.
I mean, yeah, I think numbers aren't quite as bad
as that maybe what our neighbors are as far as
the enrollment drop, but we are concerned. We're down close
to one hundred students this year. And uh and and
that's been a consistent number for us the last couple
(20:16):
of years where we've we've dropped anywhere between fifty and
one hundred students. We just haven't seen that that tick
up since that first year back from COVID.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Any idea where those students are going.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We you know, we do look at that. Uh, we
like to see we like to track where they're going,
just so we can gauge, you know, if there's things
that we need to adjust, and you know it, it's
interesting because each year we see something a little bit different,
and you know, over the course of the last two years,
(20:53):
we think we've identified the the drop in enrollment to
more natural movement of our families and a lot of
that is related to some of the economic situation here
in Montague County. Myland Park, not Mylond Park, but Myland
Pharmaceutic Suticals closed their their facility. We lost enrollment from
(21:20):
families who had to move out of the area. Because
of that, we had the big layoffs at wv U,
and so we have lost families and student enrollment due
to that. You know, some of the government issues at
the federal level where some local federal facilities have shut down,
(21:42):
have cost to some student enrollment. So much of what
we've seen can be attributed to people just moving out
of the area because of some of these economic changes.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
You know, Eddie, when I take a look at Hope Scholarship,
I mentioned this to you earlier. I'd like for you
to share your take with the audience. But it does
does the newness wear off of charter school homeschool Hope
Scholarship at some point, because you know, when it's new,
everybody's going to do it. Maybe they do it, don't
like it, and then they come back. Is any of
(22:14):
any of that valid.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I think to some extent it is. And but but
I think the phenomenon that we're seeing now is still
that this is relatively new, and as the legislature determines
that they they're going to put more money into the
Hope Scholarship to help support families and the the options
(22:41):
that those families want to have, I still believe that
we're going to see increased numbers as far as the
loss of enrollment in the public sector. You know that
Hope Scholarship gives families the opportunity to contribute to tuition
to go to private schools or pero fel schools. It
(23:01):
helps them with the costs of homeschooling, and so if
more dollars are available, I think more people are going
to take advantage of that. So I don't necessarily see
that trend changing until really we see maybe a leveling
(23:22):
out of the amount of dollars that are available. It's
just like anything else, if people have the money available
to them, they'll take advantage of it. At some point
that may flatten and you won't see as many people
have that same opportunity. The charter schools are a little
bit different because I do think you know, like kind
of like the way you described it. You know, there's
(23:44):
only going to be a certain amount of people that
look at that and say, hey, I want to take
advantage of that. And once those people have done that,
I'd see those numbers maybe flattening out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
We've got Mond County School Superintendent Eddie Campbell with us,
and last thing I've got for you is, you know,
when you take a look at these numbers, and granted,
we are doing much better than our neighbors, but does
this maybe make you look at competition a little bit differently.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
We've really been looking at competition probably over the course
of the last you know, five years, especially from a
completely different standpoint. You know, the the idea of a
public school system having to have a public relations department
and a marketing department. You know, five ten years ago,
(24:37):
that was that was really unheard of because we were
the only game in town. And that's not the case anymore.
We do have competition, and I think as public schools,
we need to recognize that there are other options out
there for our parents and that this does create a
level of competition. We need to make sure that parents
(25:01):
understand what is available to them through the public school system.
We just can't take that for granted anymore. So we
really do need to market ourselves and have public relations
campaigns so that parents understand what options they do have
even within the public school system.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
All right, Eddie, really do appreciate your time here this morning,
and I hope you have a good day, sir.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Hey, I appreciate it. Thank you for reaching out. Always
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Absolutely, take care of yourself. Mon County School Superintendent, Eddie Campbell. Eddie,
take care of yourself, have good day, and once again
real quick South Middle School MTech. They're dismissing early due
to a water issue over there in the first War.
Just so you know. Coming up next, hey, we tracked
down Attorney General JB. Mccusky. We're going to have him
(25:53):
right here. That's next on Top of the Town. AM
fourteen forty F M one oh four point five w
A JR.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Produce dot Com.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Good Thursday morning. It is a nine to forty five,
few clouds at forty two degrees on the phone with us.
We do have Attorney General JB. McCuskey. JB. How are you, sir?
Speaker 5 (26:29):
I'm great.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
How you hey, I'm doing fine. Thank you very much.
Good to catch up with you big tonight. Yes, it
is absolutely and there's.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Nothing we hate more than those Panthers fans. I am
so sad I can't be there, but I think we're
gonna whoop them.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh I think so too. I think that they are
going to see the Ross Hodge era of defense and
it's not gonna be pretty for pitt.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Let me tell you, I'm a big Ross Hodge fan.
I think Wren is doing just a fantasastic job and
what are wildly turbulent times in the NC double A.
And I'm really looking forward to seeing what these guys
can put together because I think you've got to. I
think we're good.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Oh yeah, I think so too. And I think you know,
you bring up a great point because you could really
kind of characterize this as rolling with the punches when
you're talking about what's going on with name image and
likeness and the jockeying of conferences and I think gren
Baker's doing a mighty fine job.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
It would be hard to imagine a more difficult three
years to have been the ad of any school. Right
we are relatively small budget, we're fighting the NC DOUBLEA
at every turn, and we've had two giant coaching changes,
myriad of player problems with eligibility, et cetera. And it
seems like we're better today than we were three years ago.
(27:48):
And that's hard to believe. It's just a real testament
to the athletic department.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
That's what I call rolling with the punches. JB.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Yes, sure, Okay, now, hey you call it reloading.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
There you go, there you go. Now, let's see JB.
Tell me about COP thirty. And now we know that
the United States did not go. This is the UN
Climate Summit, but you urge the administration not to go.
They did not talk a little bit about that and why.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
Yeah, I think everything you need to know about COP
thirty is that they allowed Gavin Newsom to come and
quote unquote represent the United States. And so what this
really is is just it's a series of world leaders
who get together and at the end of the day,
try to make sure that America can't produce energy, and
it's generally at the expense of Russia and China, and
(28:37):
so it is all of this sort of this sort
of mumbling bumbling talk about, you know, we're going to
reduce carbon emissions all this other stuff, but at the
end of the day, all they ever really support are
carbon credits and things that don't truly change the needle.
And so America, if it's going to take the leadership
position that President Trump is trying to get us into
(29:00):
to be energy independent, and that group of people is
decidedly interested in us not being so. And you know,
what we know is that America produces energy using carbon
fuels in the most efficient and the cleanest way anybody
does in the entire world. And what we also know
is that inexpensive, reliable electricity is the single greatest indicator
(29:21):
of upward mobility, not just in this country but across
the world. And so what we're trying to do, and
what we're saying as our in this country is that
everyone deserves the opportunity to move up, and that we
are going to be the place that really encourages that
and does so in an environment environmentally friendly way and
in a way that encourages incredible job growth through manufacturing,
(29:43):
et cetera, and still continues to encourage the investment and
the innovation that comes with newer forms of energy production.
But they're not there now. We have to produce somewhere
around twice or three times as much electricity as a
country as we do right now over the next twenty years,
and if we listen to the climate crazies that are
(30:06):
that are at this cop conference in Europe, that will
be literally impossible, and we will get outpaced by countries
who will never listen to their guidelines, who are are
are would begin to develop energy resources that we couldn't
compete with if we if we don't put the pedal
to the metal right now. So I'm very thankful that
the administration did not go to that event, and I'm
(30:29):
very much looking forward to the hard questions for Governor
Newsom about how he plans to create an energy independent
the United States that lowers costs for consumers and puts
America at the forefront of upward mobility across the world
for those who.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Are suffering, Bolly, I'll tell you what, JB. I don't
know if I could watch Gavin Newsom explain that he'd
need an extra set of hands, wouldn't he.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Yeah, And just the other day the President announced that
they were going to explore offshore drilling off of California.
And if you're the governor of California, where you have
the largest outward migration in the country, you have the
highest taxes in the country, the highest gas prices in
the country, you have uncontrollable wildfires every single season, and
four out of the five most polluted cities in the
(31:12):
country are in your state. I don't think my initial
gut reaction would be dead on arrival. That is what
Gavin Newsom said about the President and the government's plan
to produce billions of gallons of oil offshore in California,
which would lower their gas prices, lower their tax burdens,
and provide tens of thousands of good jobs to blue
(31:34):
collar workers throughout California. He doesn't believe that any of
that is good enough to justify the potential for exploration
for a life sustaining good such as oil off is shore.
And that is really where we are is that governors
are willing to forego that kind of economic development and
that kind of future for their people. Just to make
(31:56):
a point to the climate left.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
And you know the only thing that you're left out
there were the number of refineries that have pulled up
stakes and moved out of California.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
It really is remarkable how you could take a state
and I don't know if you've ever been to California,
it truly is beautiful and it's absolutely amazing. And they
had everything set up to be, you know, an economic
a pure economic driver, and in many ways they still are.
But those are all legacy businesses. Right the world is
not moving to California to build their business. The world
(32:29):
is moving to Tennessee, to Texas, to Florida, and to
states that are doing what West Virginia is working on
doing right now to set up their growth because these
states understand that inexpensive energy and the production of carbon
fuels are the future for what is going to be
happening for the foreseeable future and probably basically forever.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Attorney General JB. Mccusky is with us, and now, JB,
you're preparing to head to the Supreme Court later this
year in the Becky Pepper Jackson case, and a brief
has been filed on her behalf. Tell us how that
effort's going in your office.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Yeah, so it is. It's a herculean task to argue
a case in front of the United States Supreme Court.
But I am thankfully and the people of West Virginia
are blessed to have my team of lawyers who are
truly second to none, and they're doing moot courts every
day and really preparing to do this job in a
(33:32):
way that will make the people of West Virginia very,
very proud. We're on the right side of the law here,
but importantly we're on the right side of the facts
as well. I mean, we saw just the other day
that the International Olympic Committee has decided that athletes who
were born male are no longer allowed to compete in
the Olympics against female athletes. And as the international community
(33:55):
and the common sense community starts to to sort of
understand the unfairness of allowing males to compete against girls
in sports, a lot of these things are going to
start to work themselves out, and we're really thankful that
that's starting to happen, because at the end of the day,
this isn't about one person or one student athlete. This
is about fairness for girls in sports and ensuring that
(34:19):
every single one of them that gets up at five
six o'clock in the morning to train and get ready
for the season is guaranteed a fair playing field for
them to win or lose on. And you know, great
athletes can learn just as much from losing as they
can from winning. But those lessons can only be learned
if the game is fair. You know what I get,
And that's what we're fighting for.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
I get frustrated in today's world JB when they say,
you know, like you brought up that, well, it's just
one it's just such a small percentage that we don't
need to worry about it. Well, that's that's exactly not
the case.
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, And I think what I generally say when somebody
says to me, why are you so worried about this?
I just put it back on them. Right, if somebody
from the ACO U says, why are you so worried
about this? I would ask them the same question, Right,
why are they so worried about it? I mean, they
are are equally if not more animated on their side
as we are on ours. And so if it really
(35:13):
is just this one off thing, why does the ACO
you care either? And that to me shows that that
when that argument is being made, it is being made
not in good faith, because there are very passionate arguments
on both sides, and we are very confident that we
are correct both in the law and in inequity. Right,
this is the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
You know, I've got three daughters, and one of my
daughters played the mike. Oh oh, you're one up on me. Well,
I had one daughter that played aau basketball and let
me tell you what, those girls, they really go toe
to toe. And I couldn't imagine allowing a male to
(35:56):
get involved in that in that frame. I just I
can't imagine it.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Yeah, and I have a ten year old who's a really,
really good soccer player. And she isn't really good necessarily
because she's faster and stronger than the other girls. She's
really good because she is She's one of the most dogmatic,
determined little people I've ever met in my life. And
she's already smaller than most of the other girls. And
the idea that she would have to play against boys,
(36:26):
you know, I watch them play on the playground. It's
just different. Right, And so this is this is a
fight about fairness for women. In this country, and we're
really happy to be on the right side of it.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Okay, good deal, Attorney General J. B. McCuskey, JB. What
else is happening in your office, sir.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
So, we've got a whole bunch of big consumer actions
that are coming out, some settlements that we'll be able
to announce pretty soon. But we're really hyper focused right
now on the cost of healthcare. We're really hyper focused
right now in the cost of energy, and we're really
hyper focused right now on protecting children. And so we
have cases that we have either broad or we'll be
(37:06):
bringing in the near future that are all dedicated to
making sure that West Virginia families feel comfortable that companies
are not coming in here and taking advantage of us,
that our children are not being exposed to things on
the internet that they shouldn't be, and that the healthcare
system is set up in a way that's fair, and
that the prices that people are paying for their prescription
(37:27):
drugs and at the hospital bear a resemblance to what
they should be, so that people can get healthy and
can afford the care that they need.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Attorney General JB. McCuskey, JB. Hey, it's really good to
talk to you. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Mike.
Speaker 5 (37:45):
You are the best. Let's go mountaineers. I'll be looking
for a big win tonight.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
You better believe it. Take care of yourself, JB.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Thanks Mike, see us three of my friends.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yep, you bet take care of yourself right now. Fais
Guy's forty two degrees. In the University City and Metro
Newszaki Weather says to day actually looks like a dagone
fine day, as we'd call it back in the Midwest. Sunshine,
high in the low fifties, sunny, crisp fall day
Also m Tech in the first Ward area of Morgantown.
Just minutes ago, Sheriff Todd Forbes and Montaguelia County Centers
a press release about a head on collision that occurred
on Wednesday afternoon, just after five pm on the Grafton
Road just south of the Sheets There. A northbound car
(00:22):
drifted across the lanes there and caused a crash that
injured three people. All three transported with unspecified injuries, and
that crash remains under investigation, and the sheriff is asking
anyone who may have witnessed that crash or seen something
to give them a call at three zero four two
(00:43):
nine seven to six zero. That phone number again is
seven to four zero two nine one seven two six zero. Well,
welcome to Talk of the Town and good Thursday morning.
I'm Mike Nolton. You'll find me out on X says
your news guy, Hope to bump into you there. Also
(01:05):
producing the program today, We've got Ethan Collins. You'll be
able to get Ethan eight hundred seven six five eight
two five five. And of course the text line is
open and active. It's available that number three oh four
talk three four on the program today spend a few
minutes with Attorney General JB. Mccusky coming up next. Then
(01:28):
at nine thirty, we're going to talk with mont County
school Superintendent Patrick Morrissey. And I'm sorry mont County Superintendent
Eddie Campbell. I'm doing two things at once here and
I think I just need to cut down to one.
How about that. We're going to have Superintendent mont County
Schools Eddie Campbell with us and we're going to talk
to Eddie about the enrollment numbers that were released on Wednesday.
(01:54):
It looks like mont County will lose about one hundred students.
I didn't think that sounded like too big a deal,
but I think Eddie's going to set me straight. We're
going to talk with Eddie at nine thirty about that.
That is the program. Let's hit just a couple of headlines.
Fire on Wednesday evening damaged several units at the Marjorie
(02:16):
Gardens apartments. About a dozen people are have been displaced
due to that. Brookhaven volunteer fire fighters responded along with
firefighters from Morgantown. The State Fire Marshall is investigating the
cause of that fire, and in Clarksburg City Council, there
has voted to begin an internal investigation into allegations against
(02:40):
city Manager Tiffany Fell.
Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
The vote to higher legal council to conduct that probe
came after a four hour long executive session last night.
I've got to call into Clarksburg Meyrit Jim Malford, Joe
to find out what he can tell us, if there's
anything at all that he can tell. So we'll keep
you posted there now, Clarksburg firefighters, in addition to allegations
(03:06):
of impropriety, they have taken a no confidence vote against
city Manager Fell. And then additionally you've had the Director
of Community Development file an ethics complaint against city Manager Fell.
That is really just filled with just about everything except
(03:26):
maybe the kitchen sink, everything from using city resources for
personal purposes to even having people that worked inside the
city prepare lesson plans for her. Evidently she was a
professor in some capacity at Salem University, and that relationship
(03:49):
also being called into question as possibly she may have
made some promises in order to get that professorship. But
will we'll stay on that. Hopefully we'll be able to
provide some details coming up. When we come back. We'll
spend a few minutes with Attorney General JB. Mccusky. It's
(04:09):
been a while since we've been able to talk to JB.
We'll go around the horn with JB coming up next
on Talk of the Town AM fourteen forty FM one
oh four point five WAJR.
Speaker 3 (04:36):
We are talking about your town. Now back to the
Talk of the Town.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
A good Wednesday morning. It is nine sixteen in the
University City Fair Skies and forty two degrees Metro News
Zaki Weather says some sunshine today and a high temperature
of fifty one degrees and breaking news here at the
top of the hour of the Governor has released a
(05:09):
statement regarding the search for the missing minor in Nicholas County.
I'll go through this with you. This release came out
at nine oh six as we came on the air.
The Governor says that at six am this morning, the
water levels inside the Rolling thunder mine and Nicholas County
had reached sufficiently low levels for rescue crews to safely enter.
(05:35):
The team began their search, examining every section as they
advanced underground. Then at seven thirty seven eight m today,
one two man team located the body of missing minor
Foreman Steve Lipskom crews had worked tirelessly around the clock
in twelve hour shifts and a search for their colleague.
(05:56):
Each shift included roughly fifteen workers underground, eight on the
surf was coordinating the loading supplies, and another eight staging
and fusing a new water line. Their commitment and professionalism
have been unwavering throughout the operation. Had an opportunity to
speak with Josh Brady. He's the executive director of the
(06:18):
Mind Safety Training Unit here at West Virginia University. And
you know, Josh assured me that the people that were
working in that particular area were certainly well qualified, very
good people. And I'm sure that hearts are heavy in
Nicholas County and all fifty five counties for that matter,
(06:42):
as we mourn the loss of the Nicholas County minor.
He was found this morning seven thirty seven am in
the Rolling thundermine in Nicholas County Foreman Steve Lipscomb, So
our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the family.
Our text line to day is three four talk, three
(07:03):
four and early dismissal for the students over at South
Middle School and at m Tech. Today there's water issue
in the first ward, so those students will be heading
home early today. And also received word from Sheriff Todd
Forbes early this morning about a head on crash just
(07:29):
after five pm on the Grafton Road just south of
the Sheets. There three people hurt in that crash. Now,
looking at the press release, that crash happened just after
five o'clock in the afternoon and it involved let's see,
I've got those details. Three people transported with unspecified injuries
(07:53):
in that particular crash that happened that it was Mecha
nine one one received that report at five oh one.
Mont County Sheriff's Department is investigating that crash and they
would like anyone who may have witnessed that seen something,
may have some information to give them a call. That
(08:16):
number is three zero four two nine one seven to
two six zero. And the folks injured in that crash
where Christine and Harry Travis of Grafton and Brandy Taylor.
No ages have been provided, and we don't know where
Brandy Taylor is from, but nevertheless, three people injured in
(08:40):
that crash. Coming up on Monday, actually next week is
going to be a very busy week because on Monday
there is a PEIA hearing they'll be coming to Morgantown
to talk about the proposed three percent increase for the
plan holders of Associated public Employees. Then coming up on Tuesday,
(09:02):
there'll be a green Bag Road meeting that'll be held
over at the Mountain View Elementary School just off of
Lucky Lane there, green Bag Road, Lucky Lane that area. Now,
it looks like they're moving in some excavators, and I
guess from what I've understood, there are some people that
might not be completely up to speed with what's happening here.
(09:26):
But if you let's just start down there at the
bottom of the hill at MTech Drive Mississippi Street and
green Bag Road right in there where the city is
they're working on their new garage project. Okay, Now go
out in front of that garage if you're facing green
Bag Road and take it right and you'll see where
(09:49):
they're doing some drainage work. Well, that drainage work that
will be aroundabout ultimately they're green Bag Road in MTech Drive. Now,
if you notice you go over there on the mob side,
that drops off drastically, So it looks to me like
they'll have to move the road and the roundabout over
(10:09):
slightly in order to prevent, you know, a huge fill situation. Now,
talking to some of the residents in that area, that's
a wetland, and they have some serious concerns about what
they're doing because they're basically going to have to do
what they did at the airport. Seem to work at
(10:30):
the airport, and what they did there was they had
to encase a stream. Of course, that was a huge
phase of the entire project. But I digress. There will
be a roundabout there that MTech drive green Bag Road
Mississippi Street there at the bottom of the hill. Okay, Now,
come around the curve past the Federal Correction facility and
(10:57):
you go by the there was the hate farm right there.
There will be another roundabout there. The meeting that's coming
up on Tuesday night, they'll be focusing on green Bag
Road improvements over onto Route seven. So that'll be the
next phase of the green Bag Road project. And then
(11:17):
part of that project, at least some of the early
renditions or some of the early talk of that project,
they were going to try to tie that project into
the rail trail down in that area. So that'll be
quite an extensive, a multi modal project, if you will.
They'll be dealing with both foot traffic, bicycle traffic, and
(11:42):
then of course v Hickel traffic as well. Now the
Attorney General's office, they will be going before the United
States Supreme Court this fall in the case against I
don't think that's the right way to put it, but
in the case to defend the sports here in the
(12:05):
state of West Virginia. Now, Becky Pepper Jackson has filed
an initial brief with the courts prior to her appearance,
and that brief says that there is zero evidence that
there are any transgendered athletes that are taking opportunities away
(12:26):
from women in this state currently and in the past.
There are no examples of that whatsoever. The brief then
also goes on to say that she has been on
drugs to squelch her hormones to prevent her from prevent
(12:51):
her from becoming a male now in the process of this.
In the brief, it says that because of these factors,
she should be allowed to compete as the gender that
she would like to compete as, which would be a
(13:12):
track and field on the girls team. Now, the Attorney
General they have been working on their end of that brief,
and that case will be argued coming up in the fall.
It would appear that that case could go before the court.
Let's see, I think it was October, sometime in the
(13:35):
middle to late October time frame, in the city of
Morgantown on Wednesday, there were more than six hundred professionals
from the cybersecurity and national defense disciplines. They were down
on the waterfront for the Mountain State Cyber Summit. That
of course, there's a new partnership between West Virginia University
(13:59):
and Marshall University in order to develop the Institute for
Cybersecurity that will be located in Huntington. That's about a
forty three million dollar project where they will have labs
in which they'll be able to mimic what they call
a skiff that they have in Washington, d C. And
(14:20):
they'll be able to do realistic training because, as Bill
Walker told us, the executive director of National Security and
cyber Space Programs at West Virginia University, that you know,
we've always had these problems with bad actors hacking into systems,
stealing data, holding data ransom, and then getting using Bitcoin
(14:48):
as an untraceable means in order to complete their crime. Well,
now the bad actors also have the benefit of artificial intelligence.
We heard Director Walker tell us on Wednesday that artificial
intelligence is creating new opportunities for the bad guys that
(15:09):
certainly allow them to get at our strategic systems. And
I think it's important to note that Aliquippa al Equippa, Pennsylvania,
that water system they were hacked, they had some problems,
and there have been other hospital systems and school systems
throughout the country that have been hacked and have had
(15:32):
to deal with ransoms of that nature. And Director Walker
tells us that these attacks are going to do nothing
but increase and possibly even become more effective. And he
had members of the FBI Judicial Criminal Criminal Judicial Service
(15:57):
Information Group. They are based out of Fairmont. That is
the largest division of the FBI. More than three hundred
employees in that division they attended, as well as the
professionals across the board. And what's really fascinating about that
(16:17):
is when you look at an exercise like locked Shields.
Bill and I talked about that on Wednesday, five years ago,
was the first one that they had and they did
it down at the Coliseum, and it was a mix
of students, It was a mix of folks from the
National Guard, folks also from the Cyber Command in Washington,
(16:42):
d C. They participated virtually, but this is a NATO
exercise that involves countries from all over the world, and
they're able to work with the students all the way
up to the most seasoned military commanders. And as Bill
told us on Wednesday, that's exactly the pipeline and the
(17:05):
way that these cyber warriors as he calls them, are developed.
Because as we move into the future, we certainly see
how potent some of these cyber attacks can be. And
also not only are they potent, but there also can
be very difficult to trace, depending on exactly how they
(17:29):
are waged, and I think AI plays a role in that. Well,
coming up next, we're going to talk with Mont County
School Superintendent Eddie Campbell. He's getting out of a principles
meeting this morning. We're going to talk about their enrollment
figures the district down just about one hundred students.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
Now join the conversation at one eight hundred and seven
sixty five eight two fivey five. This is the talk
(18:07):
of the town.
Speaker 1 (18:11):
Well, good, Wednesday morning. It is at nine thirty five,
few clouds and forty two degrees in the University City.
Some enrollment numbers released by the State Board of Educations
show a continued decline in enrollment in schools across the state.
On the phone, we've got Mont County Schools Superintendent Eddie Campbell.
Good morning, Eddie. How are you.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
I'm doing well. How are you this morning?
Speaker 1 (18:35):
Mike, Hey, I'm doing good. Thank you very much, Eddie. Now,
you know, before we get started on mont County, I think,
you know, would like to point out that Mont County
is really in the best shape of any of the
surrounding counties. Now, the raw data shows about eighty nine
students lost. I think we were talking about one hundred
(18:56):
lost here in mont County. But in Harrison County they
had a decrease of four hundred and twenty nine students.
Marion just about two hundred. Preston County they were another
two hundred. Didn't really take the time to look at Wetzel,
but Wetzel's down another one hundred and sixty one. Tell
(19:17):
us about the situation here in Montegelly County, Eddie.
Speaker 2 (19:22):
Yeah, Mike, absolutely, And maybe before I jump into that.
I just want to mention that those of us here
in Montaguel County are thoughts and prayers go out to
the minor Lipscomb in Nicholas County and the loss of
his life. You know, when you think about the day
to day trials and tribulations that we all go through
(19:42):
and the roles that we play at all pales in
comparison to what that family's going through. So our thoughts
and prayers out to that family.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
So thank you for doing.
Speaker 2 (19:53):
Oh, you're you're very welcome, you know here in mont County.
I mean, yeah, I think numbers aren't quite as bad
as that maybe what our neighbors are as far as
the enrollment drop, but we are concerned. We're down close
to one hundred students this year. And uh and and
that's been a consistent number for us the last couple
(20:16):
of years where we've we've dropped anywhere between fifty and
one hundred students. We just haven't seen that that tick
up since that first year back from COVID.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Any idea where those students are going.
Speaker 2 (20:31):
We you know, we do look at that. Uh, we
like to see we like to track where they're going,
just so we can gauge, you know, if there's things
that we need to adjust, and you know it, it's
interesting because each year we see something a little bit different,
and you know, over the course of the last two years,
(20:53):
we think we've identified the the drop in enrollment to
more natural movement of our families and a lot of
that is related to some of the economic situation here
in Montague County. Myland Park, not Mylond Park, but Myland
Pharmaceutic Suticals closed their their facility. We lost enrollment from
(21:20):
families who had to move out of the area. Because
of that, we had the big layoffs at wv U,
and so we have lost families and student enrollment due
to that. You know, some of the government issues at
the federal level where some local federal facilities have shut down,
(21:42):
have cost to some student enrollment. So much of what
we've seen can be attributed to people just moving out
of the area because of some of these economic changes.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
You know, Eddie, when I take a look at Hope Scholarship,
I mentioned this to you earlier. I'd like for you
to share your take with the audience. But it does
does the newness wear off of charter school homeschool Hope
Scholarship at some point, because you know, when it's new,
everybody's going to do it. Maybe they do it, don't
like it, and then they come back. Is any of
(22:14):
any of that valid.
Speaker 2 (22:17):
I think to some extent it is. And but but
I think the phenomenon that we're seeing now is still
that this is relatively new, and as the legislature determines
that they they're going to put more money into the
Hope Scholarship to help support families and the the options
(22:41):
that those families want to have, I still believe that
we're going to see increased numbers as far as the
loss of enrollment in the public sector. You know that
Hope Scholarship gives families the opportunity to contribute to tuition
to go to private schools or pero fel schools. It
(23:01):
helps them with the costs of homeschooling, and so if
more dollars are available, I think more people are going
to take advantage of that. So I don't necessarily see
that trend changing until really we see maybe a leveling
(23:22):
out of the amount of dollars that are available. It's
just like anything else, if people have the money available
to them, they'll take advantage of it. At some point
that may flatten and you won't see as many people
have that same opportunity. The charter schools are a little
bit different because I do think you know, like kind
of like the way you described it. You know, there's
(23:44):
only going to be a certain amount of people that
look at that and say, hey, I want to take
advantage of that. And once those people have done that,
I'd see those numbers maybe flattening out a little bit.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
We've got Mond County School Superintendent Eddie Campbell with us,
and last thing I've got for you is, you know,
when you take a look at these numbers, and granted,
we are doing much better than our neighbors, but does
this maybe make you look at competition a little bit differently.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
We've really been looking at competition probably over the course
of the last you know, five years, especially from a
completely different standpoint. You know, the the idea of a
public school system having to have a public relations department
and a marketing department. You know, five ten years ago,
(24:37):
that was that was really unheard of because we were
the only game in town. And that's not the case anymore.
We do have competition, and I think as public schools,
we need to recognize that there are other options out
there for our parents and that this does create a
level of competition. We need to make sure that parents
(25:01):
understand what is available to them through the public school system.
We just can't take that for granted anymore. So we
really do need to market ourselves and have public relations
campaigns so that parents understand what options they do have
even within the public school system.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
All right, Eddie, really do appreciate your time here this morning,
and I hope you have a good day, sir.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Hey, I appreciate it. Thank you for reaching out. Always
a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
Absolutely, take care of yourself. Mon County School Superintendent, Eddie Campbell. Eddie,
take care of yourself, have good day, and once again
real quick South Middle School MTech. They're dismissing early due
to a water issue over there in the first War.
Just so you know. Coming up next, hey, we tracked
down Attorney General JB. Mccusky. We're going to have him
(25:53):
right here. That's next on Top of the Town. AM
fourteen forty F M one oh four point five w
A JR.
Speaker 4 (26:00):
Produce dot Com.
Speaker 3 (26:13):
Now back to the Talk of the Town.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
Good Thursday morning. It is a nine to forty five,
few clouds at forty two degrees on the phone with us.
We do have Attorney General JB. McCuskey. JB. How are you, sir?
Speaker 5 (26:29):
I'm great.
Speaker 1 (26:30):
How you hey, I'm doing fine. Thank you very much.
Good to catch up with you big tonight. Yes, it
is absolutely and there's.
Speaker 5 (26:40):
Nothing we hate more than those Panthers fans. I am
so sad I can't be there, but I think we're
gonna whoop them.
Speaker 1 (26:46):
Oh I think so too. I think that they are
going to see the Ross Hodge era of defense and
it's not gonna be pretty for pitt.
Speaker 5 (26:54):
Let me tell you, I'm a big Ross Hodge fan.
I think Wren is doing just a fantasastic job and
what are wildly turbulent times in the NC double A.
And I'm really looking forward to seeing what these guys
can put together because I think you've got to. I
think we're good.
Speaker 1 (27:09):
Oh yeah, I think so too. And I think you know,
you bring up a great point because you could really
kind of characterize this as rolling with the punches when
you're talking about what's going on with name image and
likeness and the jockeying of conferences and I think gren
Baker's doing a mighty fine job.
Speaker 5 (27:28):
It would be hard to imagine a more difficult three
years to have been the ad of any school. Right
we are relatively small budget, we're fighting the NC DOUBLEA
at every turn, and we've had two giant coaching changes,
myriad of player problems with eligibility, et cetera. And it
seems like we're better today than we were three years ago.
(27:48):
And that's hard to believe. It's just a real testament
to the athletic department.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
That's what I call rolling with the punches. JB.
Speaker 5 (27:53):
Yes, sure, Okay, now, hey you call it reloading.
Speaker 1 (27:57):
There you go, there you go. Now, let's see JB.
Tell me about COP thirty. And now we know that
the United States did not go. This is the UN
Climate Summit, but you urge the administration not to go.
They did not talk a little bit about that and why.
Speaker 5 (28:15):
Yeah, I think everything you need to know about COP
thirty is that they allowed Gavin Newsom to come and
quote unquote represent the United States. And so what this
really is is just it's a series of world leaders
who get together and at the end of the day,
try to make sure that America can't produce energy, and
it's generally at the expense of Russia and China, and
(28:37):
so it is all of this sort of this sort
of mumbling bumbling talk about, you know, we're going to
reduce carbon emissions all this other stuff, but at the
end of the day, all they ever really support are
carbon credits and things that don't truly change the needle.
And so America, if it's going to take the leadership
position that President Trump is trying to get us into
(29:00):
to be energy independent, and that group of people is
decidedly interested in us not being so. And you know,
what we know is that America produces energy using carbon
fuels in the most efficient and the cleanest way anybody
does in the entire world. And what we also know
is that inexpensive, reliable electricity is the single greatest indicator
(29:21):
of upward mobility, not just in this country but across
the world. And so what we're trying to do, and
what we're saying as our in this country is that
everyone deserves the opportunity to move up, and that we
are going to be the place that really encourages that
and does so in an environment environmentally friendly way and
in a way that encourages incredible job growth through manufacturing,
(29:43):
et cetera, and still continues to encourage the investment and
the innovation that comes with newer forms of energy production.
But they're not there now. We have to produce somewhere
around twice or three times as much electricity as a
country as we do right now over the next twenty years,
and if we listen to the climate crazies that are
(30:06):
that are at this cop conference in Europe, that will
be literally impossible, and we will get outpaced by countries
who will never listen to their guidelines, who are are
are would begin to develop energy resources that we couldn't
compete with if we if we don't put the pedal
to the metal right now. So I'm very thankful that
the administration did not go to that event, and I'm
(30:29):
very much looking forward to the hard questions for Governor
Newsom about how he plans to create an energy independent
the United States that lowers costs for consumers and puts
America at the forefront of upward mobility across the world
for those who.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Are suffering, Bolly, I'll tell you what, JB. I don't
know if I could watch Gavin Newsom explain that he'd
need an extra set of hands, wouldn't he.
Speaker 5 (30:52):
Yeah, And just the other day the President announced that
they were going to explore offshore drilling off of California.
And if you're the governor of California, where you have
the largest outward migration in the country, you have the
highest taxes in the country, the highest gas prices in
the country, you have uncontrollable wildfires every single season, and
four out of the five most polluted cities in the
(31:12):
country are in your state. I don't think my initial
gut reaction would be dead on arrival. That is what
Gavin Newsom said about the President and the government's plan
to produce billions of gallons of oil offshore in California,
which would lower their gas prices, lower their tax burdens,
and provide tens of thousands of good jobs to blue
(31:34):
collar workers throughout California. He doesn't believe that any of
that is good enough to justify the potential for exploration
for a life sustaining good such as oil off is shore.
And that is really where we are is that governors
are willing to forego that kind of economic development and
that kind of future for their people. Just to make
(31:56):
a point to the climate left.
Speaker 1 (31:58):
And you know the only thing that you're left out
there were the number of refineries that have pulled up
stakes and moved out of California.
Speaker 5 (32:06):
It really is remarkable how you could take a state
and I don't know if you've ever been to California,
it truly is beautiful and it's absolutely amazing. And they
had everything set up to be, you know, an economic
a pure economic driver, and in many ways they still are.
But those are all legacy businesses. Right the world is
not moving to California to build their business. The world
(32:29):
is moving to Tennessee, to Texas, to Florida, and to
states that are doing what West Virginia is working on
doing right now to set up their growth because these
states understand that inexpensive energy and the production of carbon
fuels are the future for what is going to be
happening for the foreseeable future and probably basically forever.
Speaker 1 (32:52):
Attorney General JB. Mccusky is with us, and now, JB,
you're preparing to head to the Supreme Court later this
year in the Becky Pepper Jackson case, and a brief
has been filed on her behalf. Tell us how that
effort's going in your office.
Speaker 5 (33:10):
Yeah, so it is. It's a herculean task to argue
a case in front of the United States Supreme Court.
But I am thankfully and the people of West Virginia
are blessed to have my team of lawyers who are
truly second to none, and they're doing moot courts every
day and really preparing to do this job in a
(33:32):
way that will make the people of West Virginia very,
very proud. We're on the right side of the law here,
but importantly we're on the right side of the facts
as well. I mean, we saw just the other day
that the International Olympic Committee has decided that athletes who
were born male are no longer allowed to compete in
the Olympics against female athletes. And as the international community
(33:55):
and the common sense community starts to to sort of
understand the unfairness of allowing males to compete against girls
in sports, a lot of these things are going to
start to work themselves out, and we're really thankful that
that's starting to happen, because at the end of the day,
this isn't about one person or one student athlete. This
is about fairness for girls in sports and ensuring that
(34:19):
every single one of them that gets up at five
six o'clock in the morning to train and get ready
for the season is guaranteed a fair playing field for
them to win or lose on. And you know, great
athletes can learn just as much from losing as they
can from winning. But those lessons can only be learned
if the game is fair. You know what I get,
And that's what we're fighting for.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
I get frustrated in today's world JB when they say,
you know, like you brought up that, well, it's just
one it's just such a small percentage that we don't
need to worry about it. Well, that's that's exactly not
the case.
Speaker 5 (34:53):
Yeah, And I think what I generally say when somebody
says to me, why are you so worried about this?
I just put it back on them. Right, if somebody
from the ACO U says, why are you so worried
about this? I would ask them the same question, Right,
why are they so worried about it? I mean, they
are are equally if not more animated on their side
as we are on ours. And so if it really
(35:13):
is just this one off thing, why does the ACO
you care either? And that to me shows that that
when that argument is being made, it is being made
not in good faith, because there are very passionate arguments
on both sides, and we are very confident that we
are correct both in the law and in inequity. Right,
this is the right thing to do.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
You know, I've got three daughters, and one of my
daughters played the mike. Oh oh, you're one up on me. Well,
I had one daughter that played aau basketball and let
me tell you what, those girls, they really go toe
to toe. And I couldn't imagine allowing a male to
(35:56):
get involved in that in that frame. I just I
can't imagine it.
Speaker 5 (36:01):
Yeah, and I have a ten year old who's a really,
really good soccer player. And she isn't really good necessarily
because she's faster and stronger than the other girls. She's
really good because she is She's one of the most dogmatic,
determined little people I've ever met in my life. And
she's already smaller than most of the other girls. And
the idea that she would have to play against boys,
(36:26):
you know, I watch them play on the playground. It's
just different. Right, And so this is this is a
fight about fairness for women. In this country, and we're
really happy to be on the right side of it.
Speaker 1 (36:37):
Okay, good deal, Attorney General J. B. McCuskey, JB. What
else is happening in your office, sir.
Speaker 5 (36:45):
So, we've got a whole bunch of big consumer actions
that are coming out, some settlements that we'll be able
to announce pretty soon. But we're really hyper focused right
now on the cost of healthcare. We're really hyper focused
right now in the cost of energy, and we're really
hyper focused right now on protecting children. And so we
have cases that we have either broad or we'll be
(37:06):
bringing in the near future that are all dedicated to
making sure that West Virginia families feel comfortable that companies
are not coming in here and taking advantage of us,
that our children are not being exposed to things on
the internet that they shouldn't be, and that the healthcare
system is set up in a way that's fair, and
that the prices that people are paying for their prescription
(37:27):
drugs and at the hospital bear a resemblance to what
they should be, so that people can get healthy and
can afford the care that they need.
Speaker 1 (37:37):
Attorney General JB. McCuskey, JB. Hey, it's really good to
talk to you. I appreciate your time.
Speaker 2 (37:44):
Mike.
Speaker 5 (37:45):
You are the best. Let's go mountaineers. I'll be looking
for a big win tonight.
Speaker 1 (37:48):
You better believe it. Take care of yourself, JB.
Speaker 5 (37:50):
Thanks Mike, see us three of my friends.
Speaker 1 (37:52):
Yep, you bet take care of yourself right now. Fais
Guy's forty two degrees. In the University City and Metro
Newszaki Weather says to day actually looks like a dagone
fine day, as we'd call it back in the Midwest. Sunshine,
high in the low fifties, sunny, crisp fall day
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